Shine Ahoy Guide – How the Light Works, Every Boat and Hazard Explained and How to Get 3 Stars
Shine Ahoy! is a free lighthouse game for your browser and phone. You keep the lighthouse, and lost boats follow your beam. This guide explains exactly how the light works, what every boat and hazard does and how to get 3 stars on all 16 nights.
How the light works
- Move the light with your mouse, or drag a finger on a phone. On touch screens the light sits a little above your finger so you can still see the boats under it. The beam sweeps fast, but not instantly.
- Boats inside the pool of light sail toward its middle. The closer they are to the middle, the more strongly they follow. When they reach the middle they slow down and wait, so a parked light gathers a little fleet.
- Boats in the dark drift at about a quarter of their speed and wander slowly. A “?” bubble means a boat has been lost for a while; a red “!” means it is about to hit something.
- Home is the harbour mouth at the bottom of the bay, marked by a golden ring. A boat that sails into it is home and glides to its berth.
The trick is to lead, not to drag. Keep the light just ahead of the slowest boat and let the group catch up. If you sweep away too fast, the boats lose the light and stop following.
Rocks and crashes
In the light, crews can see rocks right ahead and try to swerve around them. Nimble boats usually make it; fast sailboats and the big ferry turn slowly and often don’t. In the dark, crews see nothing at all, and a boat that drifts into a rock or an iceberg sinks (its crew bobs away in a life ring). Route the light so your fleet passes rocks with room to spare.
The boats
| Boat | Points | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Rowboat | 100 | Slow but turns on the spot. |
| Trawler | 120 | The steady all-rounder. |
| Sailboat | 140 | The fastest, but swings wide on turns. Lead it early. |
| Tugboat | 160 | Survives one bump against a rock or a pirate. |
| Ferry | 350 | Big and slow; worth the most. |
| Bathtub | 220 | Grandpa snores (“Zzz”) in the dark and is the slowest boat. |
| Rubber Duck | 260 | Quick and squeaky. |
| Pirates | – | Not counted as boats. See below. |
The fog horn
Press Space, right-click or the round HORN button. It recharges in 9 seconds.
- Every boat that can’t see your light stops dead for a couple of seconds. Use it the moment a “!” appears.
- The kraken dives and stays under for several seconds.
- Pirates scatter and run from the lighthouse.
Hazards
- Currents (Cosy Cove, Stormy Strait): glowing chevrons push boats downstream, even in the light. Aim a little upstream.
- Fog banks (Frosty Fjord): boats inside a fog bank can’t see your light at all. Fog drifts, so wait for it to pass or lead boats around it.
- Icebergs (Frosty Fjord): rocks that drift and bounce around the bay. Watch where they are going.
- Whirlpools (Kraken Reef): pull boats in a spiral toward the middle. A boat in the light can paddle out; a boat in the dark gets swallowed.
- The kraken (Kraken Reef): it loves the light and swims toward it, and in the dark it hunts the nearest boat. If it reaches a boat, it grabs it. Lure it away with the light, outrun it (lit boats are faster), or sound the horn to send it under. It surfaces again at its home or far from your light.
- Lightning (Stormy Strait): every 9 to 15 seconds a flash spooks every boat that isn’t in your light and sends it off in a random direction. Keep your fleet lit during storms.
- Pirates (Stormy Strait): they hate the light. Shine on them and they flee; chase them out of the bay for +150. In the dark they hunt boats and ram them.
Scoring and stars
- Each boat scores its points when it reaches the harbour.
- Combos: boats docking within 3.5 seconds of each other multiply their points: ×1.5 for the second, ×2 for the third, up to ×3. Bring boats home in groups.
- Bottles: sweep the light over a floating bottle for +75 and a silly message.
- Early-bird bonus: bring every boat home and each second left before dawn adds 10 points.
Stars depend only on how many boats you bring home before dawn. ★★★ always means every boat.
Tips for 3 stars
- Fetch the boats in trouble first. A “!” bubble means a crash is coming; sweep over it or sound the horn.
- Gather, then go. Park the light where two or three boats can reach it, then lead them home together for a combo.
- Lead the slowest boat. Faster boats wait in the middle of the light; slow ones fall out of it.
- Go around, not through. Leave a wide gap at rocks, especially with sailboats and the ferry.
- Save the horn for the kraken and for boats about to crash, not for routine steering.
- Watch the clock. The night clock in the corner counts down to dawn; boats still at sea at sunrise don’t count.
Long Night
Long Night is the endless mode, one per harbour. Boats keep arriving, faster and faster, with each harbour’s hazards. Five lost boats end the night. Your best Long Night score is saved for each harbour.
Harbour Maker
The Harbour Maker lets you build your own bays. Place rocks, boats (each with its own arrival time), currents, whirlpools, fog banks, icebergs, bottles and a kraken, move the lighthouse and the harbour, set the time until dawn and switch on a storm. Test your bay, save up to 30 of them, copy or delete them, and share them with a short code that a friend can paste into the import box.
Lamp lenses
Stars unlock new beam colours: Moonbeam (6 stars), Rose Glass (12), Sea Glass (18), Honey Lamp (24), Starlight (30), Golden Hour (38) and Disco Prism (46). They only change the colour of the light, never the gameplay.